It has come to light that Grand Master Ruben Rhal and the Blood of The Fold have switched sides! The formerly Naval Alliance force has been secretly worshiping the Dark Powers and when this was revealed Grand Master Rhal turned pirate and joined the Corsairs. I always thought there was something fishy about that cove. It hasn't made a great deal of different to his battlefield prowess though, the Blood of The Fold were twice given a pounding by Tyrant Ikrim Elfeater in Roba.

Also on the receiving end of Ikrim's wrath was Kor'thar the Merciful – the Khornate Scurvy Dog tried to grab Roba as well but the Trollish Ogre has comprehensively secured the cliff-town for the Jonesers, after weeks of suspense while the ownership of Roba hung in the balance; that matter looks to be settled for now.

Meanwhile Prince Robinet Puissant has consolidated the Naval Alliance's possession of the Osso Hills this week. He battered the Sartosa Harbour Independent Trading Syndicate first and mauled the Ironfang Orc Pirates later in the week. The Prince even took the time in between to settle a dispute with General Jeridian Neskijn on the Hills in open battle. Jeridian and Puissant are rumoured to have fallen out over "a matter of principle" – they were expected to fought a duel, but the Alliance seem to have taken the concept of "weapon of choice" to include a whole army! The over-sized duel was won by Jeridian in a text-book display of the power of gunpowder over cavalry.

Moreover Lord Lokay's Wood Elves fended off two other attacks by the Scurvy Dogs on the Osso Hills. The reptilian raider Ankha-Uax and The Temple Constellations attacked first but were driven off. Then a band of less-than-sober Empire buccaneers made an attempt on the hills and the Wood Elves ambushed and brutally slaughtered them.

It seems like nothing can stop the onslaught of Davy Jones's foul Crew. They have once again taken control of the majority of the island while the Alliance and the Scurvy Dogs fight one-another for scraps. Our last, forlorn, hope could be for all the rival factions to turn upon the Jonesers' in a concerted effort to break their stranglehold upon us. Our freedom and survival depends upon it shipmates!

Davy Jones' Crew held The Fortress of the Pirate King, Sartosa City, the Howling Marsh, Ossomunte, The Old Penitentiary, The Cave of the Damned, Beffardo, Vermunte, the Volcanic Lake and Dead Man's Point. They captured Roba.The Scurvy Dogs held Fort Senelite, The Bay of Wrecks and Skull Point.The Corsairs held Caprio.The Naval Alliance held Caragio, Ragil and the Osso Hills.

Week 6

Mutiny, Upheaval and Revolt

It has come to light that Grand Master Ruben Rhal and the Blood of The Fold have switched sides! The formerly Naval Alliance force has been secretly worshiping the Dark Powers and when this was revealed Grand Master Rhal turned pirate and joined the Corsairs. I always thought there was something fishy about that cove. It hasn't made a great deal of different to his battlefield prowess though, the Blood of The Fold were twice given a pounding by Tyrant Ikrim Elfeater in Roba.

Also on the receiving end of Ikrim's wrath was Kor'thar the Merciful – the Khornate Scurvy Dog tried to grab Roba as well but the Trollish Ogre has comprehensively secured the cliff-town for the Jonesers, after weeks of suspense while the ownership of Roba hung in the balance; that matter looks to be settled for now.

Meanwhile Prince Robinet Puissant has consolidated the Naval Alliance's possession of the Osso Hills this week. He battered the Sartosa Harbour Independent Trading Syndicate first and mauled the Ironfang Orc Pirates later in the week. The Prince even took the time in between to settle a dispute with General Jeridian Neskijn on the Hills in open battle. Jeridian and Puissant are rumoured to have fallen out over "a matter of principle" – they were expected to fought a duel, but the Alliance seem to have taken the concept of "weapon of choice" to include a whole army! The over-sized duel was won by Jeridian in a text-book display of the power of gunpowder over cavalry.

Moreover Lord Lokay's Wood Elves fended off two other attacks by the Scurvy Dogs on the Osso Hills. The reptilian raider Ankha-Uax and The Temple Constellations attacked first but were driven off. Then a band of less-than-sober Empire buccaneers made an attempt on the hills and the Wood Elves ambushed and brutally slaughtered them.

It seems like nothing can stop the onslaught of Davy Jones's foul Crew. They have once again taken control of the majority of the island while the Alliance and the Scurvy Dogs fight one-another for scraps. Our last, forlorn, hope could be for all the rival factions to turn upon the Jonesers' in a concerted effort to break their stranglehold upon us. Our freedom and survival depends upon it shipmates!

Davy Jones' Crew held The Fortress of the Pirate King, Sartosa City, the Howling Marsh, Ossomunte, The Old Penitentiary, The Cave of the Damned, Beffardo, Vermunte, the Volcanic Lake and Dead Man's Point. They captured Roba.The Scurvy Dogs held Fort Senelite, The Bay of Wrecks and Skull Point.The Corsairs held Caprio.The Naval Alliance held Caragio, Ragil and the Osso Hills.

A chill was in the night air, the twin moons Morrslieb and Mannslieb waxed full and bathed the land in a pale, eerie light. Shadowy figures darted through the streets on the western edge of Vercuso: Unpleasantly lithe and wiry forms with blood on their claws and murder in their eyes. At their head was a larger, even more grotesque creature with spines protruding from his taught, dry hide and long, blade-like talons at its dexterous finger tips. The smell of the crypt hung about them like a blanket; decay, decomposition, death.

The Orcs looked at one another nervously; they were out of their depth. Dead'Unz always gave them the heebie-jeebies. They jogged towards the town in a loose line spread out ether side of Reaper, the Boss, with Dagon the Troll on the far left end. Sack stopped running and started shouting at Toom, raving that they were going to die and it was going to be Toom's fault!

Toom looked over his shoulder briefly and glared at Sack. The other Orcs ignored him and braced themselves for the coming fight.

Dagon roared and charged forwards – fearless of anything so much smaller than him, he didn't not even experience the tremor that the others had to master, the shock of revulsion at the sight of the Ghouls: Painfully thin and unnaturally fast they scrambled forwards over the ruins. The Troll crashed into the twisted batlike form of the Ghoul-King, knocking him down and sending him sprawling across the floor.

With lighting reactions the Vampire sprang to his feet as his minions joined him in the fight, swarming around the Troll – clawing, biting and grasping at him. Dagon slammed his rusty over-sized cutlass down onto a Ghoul and cleaved it in half from shoulder to groin. A hunchbacked thrall of the Vampire, almost mindlessly insane, lashed out with a knife: The small blade bit deep into the Trolls belly and Dagon howled with pain – the wound failed to knit back together.

"Come on!" roared Reaper as he and Gammer charged the hideous creatures crowding round Dagon. The hooded Orc hacked a second Ghoul down and stamped on the writhing creatures face. Gammer swung his broomstick in a wide arc but missed the hunchbacked Dreg, Selig. Selig smashed his club into the Orc Shaman's head and the greenskin slumped to the ground.

Festus the Ghoul-King impaled Dagon's throat with the talons of both hands and the huge brute gagged and fell backwards clutching at his neck. The Vampire leapt over the Troll with supernatural speed and slashed at Reaper – the Orc Boss span round with an arc of dark blood spewing from his shoulder and slammed into the cold earth.

"Run! Run!" squawked Roosta as he and Big Bad seized the unconscious Shaman and the other Orcs grabbed the Boss and dragged him with them.

The screeching of the Ghouls rang in their ears as they fled into the darkness of the night.

Far out to sea the night sky was strewn with uncountable millions of stars. Both moons had set an hour before and the only illumination was starlight and the shrouded binnacle lantern.

Grognog paced back and forth on the quarter deck of Hogwasha; as he walked forward he could make out the ghostly shape of the Rotmoon's triangular sail far ahead. As he strode aft the square sails of Ogresun were visible about a mile astern. In the uneventful night the routine of pacing and the unchanging views for and aft lulled him into somnambulant torpor.

So when he turned forward again and found the ethereal sail of the distant Rotmoon blocked from his sight by a hulking dark silhouette he jumped and cried out in shocked surprise.

"Dyaaaagh!"

"Avast that bawlin' Mr Grognog," said the low rumbling voice of Adm'rul Kurgan "tis only me."

"Call all hands Mr Grognog, signal the squadron to come about and make a course north north-east. We are going ashore at dawn; we'll take Skull Sands by dinner time."

~ ~ ~

Day Watch

The Orc Pirates landed with no opposition and headed inland, following the course of a small river that wound up between steep cliffs that overlooked Skull Sands. As they marched up and up the jungle on either side of the river closed in and became denser. Sweat poured off their brows as they laboured to haul the guns up the narrow path and buzzing insects feasted on them.

Suddenly the path opened onto a clear plateau at the foot of a steep craggy cliff, from where the little river fell in a crashing waterfall.

"Something's wrong – a got a bad feelin' about dis!" cried Murlok the Shaman, "There is sumink in the jungle that don't want us here." he said cryptically.

"Good enough for me" said the Adm'rul "Form up ladz, you know the drill."

The pirates hurried to gather round their ships' colours, they pushed and jostled for position, hurled insults and sometimes traded blows, but soon settled down. In the cramped space of the clearing they were shoulder to shoulder, almost in a solid mass from one side of the plateau to the other.

The jungle sprang into life ahead of them – lithe green-clad forms sprang from the trees and tumbled forwards into the glade. Elves!

As if this was the signal to fire the pirate guns spoke, the echo rolled around the enclosed space and the acrid smoke hung in the air, swirling in the eddies caused by the waterfall. Cannonballs ripped through the fragile forms in the Elven lines – the pirates raised a growling cheer and started forward, eager to engage.

Arrows darted out from all sides and a couple of goblin riders fell but the Orcs stood firm, unbothered by the contemptible missiles. Elven cavalry burst out of the trees and galloped at Mogrum's ladz. The Highway-Gobbos counter-charged and were slaughtered for their boldness. The Elf light cavalry whirled around to the starboard flank and crashed into Kap'n Mogrum's crew. The Orcs stood their ground, regardless of the flanking charge and fought back like Boyz possessed. A twirling band of Wardancers cartwheeled into the front of the unit as Mogrum bellowed a challenge to the champion of the Glade Riders. The Elf accepted courageously but was cut down in a moment: Mogrum pulled him from his started horse and put his favourite kickin' boots to very good use.

The spider-crab riding goblins scuttled into the trees as Broadside the Giant lumbered towards another troupe of Elven riders on the port flank. The Halibuteers stoically marked forward regardless of the riders as they wheeled around the Giant, overcoming their fear of the huge brute, and cantered towards the centre gun.

Murlok the Shaman tensed every muscle in his body and turned his mind inward. From deep in the Great Green a huge wave of Orcish energy was building and as it broke over him he channelled it power directly into the Boyz around him. As one the Orcs of the Ironfang Fleet surged forward, invigorated and propelled by the tide of Orcish aggression that surged through them.

The Elves were swept aside as they powered forwards smashing anything that stood before them. Even the crew of the pirate guns were caught up in the moment and attacked the Elven Riders who had broken through the Orc lines, killing half of them in a frenzy! The Giant jumped up and down on the flank of the Dryads, smashing them into firewood. Wardancers, Glade Riders and Dryads were broken and run down in a glorious few moments of carnage.

As the wave passed over them the furious energy of the Great Green ebbed away and the Elf Lord Lokay picked that moment to strike. Like a spinning hurricane of steel he cut a path through the centre of two units of Orcs, scattering the survivors before him. Archers sent volley after volley of arrows into Broadside as he lumbered forwards, soon he staggered a little as the number of tiny wounds added up, and then he slipped and fell heavily.

Adm'rul Kurgan and Kap'n Hadduk hardly noticed as they continued their rampage through archers and Spellsingers, in the opposite direction.

"Come on ya lubbers!" roared Kurgan "They're getting away!"

The two big mobs of Orcs went roaring off into the jungle on the far side of the plateau and disappeared.

Deffgit and the Ogresuns picked their way through the back streets of Ha'penny Market, careful to make as little noise as possible. Wyrdtoof cringed and paused as he climbed a ladder into the first floor of a small house, the rungs creaked quietly as they took his weight but to him it sounded like it was deafeningly loud. When he was satisfied that no-one was shouting out his presence he continued his climb, even more cautiously than before.

As the pirates closed in on the Outlaws' camp they could hear the sentries chatting to one-another in the darkness. They seemed relaxed and confident, but they were clearly doing an excellent job of keeping guard: There was not even the tiniest of gaps in their watch. Kommodore Deffgit felt a prickling annoyance – if only his crew were so diligent they may not be in this position! But he sighed and resigned himself to the fact that the pirate lifestyle was entirely contrary to that kind of discipline.

In the centre of the ring of Chalons men was a warehouse, illuminated by a large lantern. Sitting on the ground in the pool of warm light was Barnacle Nog, looking dejected and miserable with his hands and feet clapped in irons and the monk Tuc watching over him.

Salty Ogbad stepped out into the street after watching Bad Hook and Blind Fug rush across into the lee of the overhanging building opposite. He pulled back the hammer of his Musketoon without thinking and froze as it emitted a loud click.

A Bretonnian sentry instantly looked straight at the pirate and opened his mouth in panic. For a long second Ogbad thought he was going to somehow get away with it, somehow the guard would not be able to find his voice and raise the alarm. But the second passed and the sentry called to his leader. Shouts soon rang out across the cluster of shattered houses and the whole band of Outlaws knew the pirates were coming.

Dubloon Dreg, stood slightly in front of Ogbad was the first to suffer – an arrow wizzed out of an upstairs window in the inn and pierced the skin of his left forearm. He dropped to the floor and squirmed in pain, clutching at the arrow's shaft.

Maroon Grub and Scupper Lug jumped out of their hiding places and fired, the two booming reports of their guns overlapped and Jean le Petit dropped to the ground.

Kommodore Deffgit and Fishgutz dashed forwards, Deffgit made it into the cover of a ruined wall but Fishgutz was still in the open when half a dozen sentries spotted him and fired; several arrows skipped across the cobbles around him as he ran but the next hit him square in the side of the neck and he fell.

The Kabin Grots started squabbling among themselves – Walker Plank smacked Dirty Morrgun on the head with his broken cutlass and the unfortunate Grot was spent sprawling across the ground, cursing and swearing.

Dread Pirate RogUrtz ignored the bickering of his shipmates and ran onwards, straight into the path of Will L'Écarlate. RogUrtz didn't last three seconds.

Salty Ogbad sprinted towards the Outlaw camp, roaring out "Ogresuns! Ogresuns!" as he ran. Barnacle Nog heard the cry and thought rescue was on the way but he soon found himself being bundled out of the warehouse through a side door and half-dragged away from the on-rushing pirates. Ogbad was shot down by three archers on a gang-plank overhead.

Maroon Grub ran towards Jean Le Petit, drawing his cutlass as the giant of a man pulled himself to his feet, blood pouring from the graze above his eye caused by the pirate musket ball. The first wicked slice of the Orc's blade was turned aside by Petit's quarter-staff, Jean span the staff deftly in his large hands and brought the other end in a rapid downward arc towards Grub's head. Dodging backwards the Orc swept both his short blade and boarding axe upwards to catch the strike but he staggered under the force of the blow. As they struggled brute-strength against brute-strength Jean was gaining the upper hand until the Orc gave him a swift and dirty knee to the groin. Jean doubled up and fell to the floor, groaning with pain.

He was about to finish of the job with a stab of his blade when Kommodore Deffgit gave the order to fall back – the Chalons had whisked Barnacle Nog away and there was no hope of freeing him today.

Having been led a merry dance for weeks by the rotting galleon of the Red Duke, Warboss Snaptoof was eventually forced to weigh anchor and send a landing party to Sartosa to obtain much needed supplies, and sate the boy's need for a good scrap or two!

Making land at the Corsair occupied town of Caprio, Snaptoof's lads were quickly enlisted in the fight for Sartosa with the promise of a rich share of the spoils if they fought hard enough.

Game 1 (TOS)

vs Dwarf at Caprio

The Dwarves had occupied a farmstead on the outskirts of the town, and Snaptoof intended to occupy the ruined buildings and drive the stunties away through sheer weight of numbers. Sadly, he had counted without a unit of miners digging through the soil island soil and launching themselves ferociously at the rear of the orcish lines, scattering his units and leaving the army in disarray.

Dwarf Win

Game 2 (TOS)

vs Skaven at Caprio

Retreating to lick thei wounds, the Orcs were set upon by a band of rabid plague priests and their disease worshipping horde. Luckily Snaptoof was able to form a solid battleline and personally smash the heart out of the Ratmen's formation, leading his Stone Troll Bodyguard in a glorious charge that sent 60 of the vile creatuures fleeing for their lives.

Orc Win!

Game 3 (TOS)

vs Deamons at Ossomunte

Striking out in search of fresh opponants, Snaptoof reached the outskirts of Ossomunte and found his way barred by the Gigantic form of a Keeper of Secrets and his unnatural legion. The lads formed a defensive, but the nerves of Wazgit the Shaman proved the weak link, as he fled the field at the sight of the towering monstrosity, taking his boys and the chariot with him. The Greater Daemon sauntered into the Orc lines, and Snaptoof took it upon himself to face the monstrosity, but was hammered from his boar by a backhanded swipe from the daemon. With their leader gone, the Orcline swiftly crumbled.

Daemon Win

Game 4 (TOS)

vs Vampires at Ossumunte

Reeling from the beating they had recieved, Snaptoof's lads circled the town, looking for an easy way in. They made to press forward at the site of an ancient temple, but as they advanced a rotting legion of corpses sprung from the ground. Deadies! They gave Snaptoof the shivers, reminding him of the beatings he had recieved at the hands of his nemesis, the Red Duke. Snaptoof ordered an all out attack, and the boys managed to overcome their reluctance and steamed into the undead lines, smashing rotten shield and brittle bone before them. Sadly, Sanptoof's trolls were caught up in a fierce battle against a huge mob of ghouls - two seemed to spring from the ground for every one his trolls squashed. This gave the Vampire lord the chance to lead his skeleton warriors into Snaptoof's flank, breaking his resolve and that of the remaining Orcs.

Vampire Win

Game 5 (TOS)

vs Vampires at Osso Hils

Giving up on Ossomunte as a bad job, Sanptoof headed for the Osso Hills to regroup. He set up camp amidst a formation of strange mounds, and came to realise his mistake as night fell, and more rotting warriors began bursting from the ancient barrows!

The undead army was full of shambling zombies, and Snaptoof felt confident he could best them in combat, if only his boys could overcome there fears. The Orc charge once again hammered into the undead line, but once again was not decisive enough, and Snaptoof's flank was exposed to the charge of a huge unit of black knights. Whn the dust settled, hundreds of bodies littered the ancient burial site, but the dead had narrowly triumphed.

Vampire Win

Game 6 (TOS)

vs Empire at Osso Hills

Pressing North in search of less unsettling opposition, Snaptoof came upon the camp of an Empire wizard and his retinue. Excited at the prospect of an opponant that would stay dead, he ordered the attack, leading the Black Orcs in a headlong charge against the clanking behemoth that the empire used as a war machine. The steam tank's side were sturdy, but the boys choppas were up to the task and after a good half an hour of concerted pounding the machine was eventually torn to pieces. sadly the empire firepower and wizardry had taken its toll on the remainder of the army, and there were not enough units left to claim the field solely for Orcdom.

Draw

Game 7

vs Vampires at Howling Marshes

Bouyed up by his personal triumph, Snaptoof surged North. As he entered the howling marshes, an goblin scout excitiedly reported that the banner of the red duke had been spotted. At last, a chance for revenge!

The Dukes host had formed their battleline between two woods, and Snaptoof once again personally led the charge down the right flank. His trolls tore apart a unit of elite grave guard, and carried on into a unit of skeletons- it was to easy. Only when he glanced behind him did Snaptoof see that the rest of his army was in disarray, swept away by the Red Duke's unstoppable charge, and the batttlefield was crawling with zombies. Shaking his head, shnaptoof ordered the retreat, and vowed to seek revenge another day.

Vampire win

Game 8

vs Chaos Warriors at Howling Marshes

write up to follow...

Orc win(!)

Last edited by WarbossKurgan on Thu 6 Nov 2008 - 3:32; edited 1 time in total

This week the island has exploded into open warfare. Every corner of Sartosa is embroiled in the struggle as several warlords have pulled out all the stops in their bid to wrest control for themselves.

Gardrock and The Sartosa Harbour Independent Trading Syndicate, Tyrant Ikrim Elfeater and the Chaos Troll-Ogres, Prince Robinet Puissant and the Troupeau à Ailes Royal, Slann Ankha-Uax and The Temple Constellations of Bob, Warboss Snaptoof and the Rusty Reavers: The list is long and the battles were ferocious but no-one escaped entirely unharmed, even the great and powerful Tyrant Ikrim suffered some set-backs and defeats (one, ironically, at the hands of a host of Daemons!). So many dozens of battles were fought in this brief burst of brutality that the reports have become confused and contradictory. Suffice to say that Davy Jones' Crew still remain in control of the greater part of the island but the small enclaves of resistance against them have been hardened, fortified and reinforced.

Adm'rul Kurgan attempted a quite landing on the south coast via the Skull Sands, but the Ironfang's assault was thrown into disarray by a Wood Elf ambush in the darkening jungle. The Adm'rul was last seen ploughing a furrow north through the trees with a small but sturdy band of buccaneers.

The coming winter on Sartosa will once more be a hard one. The evil that stalks the land will not abate and there is small chance that things will get brighter anytime soon. The monstrous fish that prowl the waters offshore are getting bigger, if the reports of sailors can be believed, and this proves that the dark power that surrounds us has not waned. The only consolation is that the authority on Sartosa is still in piratical hands, even if it is the wrong sort of pirate!

Batten down the hatches for the comin' storm mates.

Davy Jones' Crew captured Caragio and held The Fortress of the Pirate King, Sartosa City, the Howling Marsh, Ossomunte, The Old Penitentiary, The Cave of the Damned, Beffardo, Vermunte, the Volcanic Lake, Dead Man's Point and Roba.The Scurvy Dogs captured The Pirate's Current and held Fort Senelite, The Bay of Wrecks and Skull Point.The Corsairs held Caprio.The Naval Alliance held Ragil and the Osso Hills.Skull Sands is contested by The Naval Alliance and The Scurvy Dogs.

I sat upon the hill watching the might of the greenskins gather in the distant, behind us my lord approached to bolster our battle lines, but we where mainly peasants, humble and needy, but our lord gave is courage, we would try and hold the armies flank against this sneaky greenskin tactics. 2 units of knights were at our aid, as well as a trio of young pegasus knights, the few knights against the hoard, we hoped our frail pilgrims bodies naked in comparison to the might of metal beside us.As we prayed to our lady the green ones took the advantage and started the charge across the battlefield, great screams went up raising feer in our hearts, but our lord flew over on Juliet shouting his battlecry in defiance, the greenskins laughed and 2 wolf riders and a troll charged the mighty knight.

Juliet slew the goblins and my lord wounded the troll, who gave way and was run down. Chasing after the mighty lord hit the flank of the ork unit behind.

The errantry knights seeing their Lord leading the battle charged the orks behind the crab riders as the Pegasus knights charged the crab riding goblins, the crabs however fled before them but the swift pegasus hit the flank of the orks just as the young sirs hit its front.The knights of the realm tried to rally themselves to prepare a charge against the giant but their horses proved unwilling and promptly turned and headed back to the stable, taking the knights with them.But we peasants saw the damsels in danger and let fly with our arrows.a score of arrows flew into the giant several of them causing major cuts and damage to the lumbering hulk.The knights errant and the pegasus cut down the orks, but not without loss, young zack the errant champion challenge the orks standard bearer in combat but was cut down in his prime. Even with that small victory the orks realised they had lost that fight and ran the knights cutting them down as they fled.

The general and his hippogryph cut down 6 of the orks in front of him, the rest seeing only their deaths in the mighty warriors helmet, turned and ran, our lord gave chase cutting the orks down and againt straight into another unit of orks, this one though was headed by the ork warbossMy lord raised his sword pointing at the Ork Warlord in a challenge.'Vous ver de lutin de mille mères, ce jour je vous défie et ferai la condamnation sur votre corps'

The ork warlord charged forward but our lord was ready his sword slashed out 4 times but due to some strange magic only one of those cuts caused a wound but it was a deep and powerful wound, Juliet struck with her talons and cut the warboss down before he could even raise his weapon.

After this from the hill i saw the giant fall to the bowmen who cheered and the mighty rock lobbers of the orks were chased down by the pegasus knights. In the distance i saw the damsels cast the ladies magic on some very strange orks dressed as fish, almost as if in some weird play, but the combined magic of the lady caused fear in them and they turned to run, but my lord was behind them and he cut them down as they ran!

Once again we fought the greenskins and once again we managed to truimph, but on this day i saw a my lord fight like a god, almost single handed did he put the greenskins to the sword, and i swear i will never see again such a display of knightly magnificence.As we drink our drinks in the camp and tell stories long into the night our lord comes and drinks with us, sharing our comradeship, I stand and lead the cheer.

Knights. Zoggin Knights! Errant, Pegasus or Hippogriff, it didn't seem to matter. Knights of the Realm were obviously not worth their salt since they ran at the first wave of a Giant's club. The entire Bretonnian peasant army had stood and watched the small handful of their "noble" leaders grind the Orc Pirates into the soil without lifting a finger.

The late-rising sun of the autumn morning shone weakly across the wreckage of the Orc Pirates as Kurgan dragged himself up and stared about him in brooding resignation. The hoof-prints in his back and the Hippogriff claw-marks in his coat were a cruel metaphor for the treatment the rest of the Ironfang fleet had received. He scraped some of the mud from his face and his matted beard as he limped back in the direction of the coast. As he passed some of the Orc bodies littered across the battlefield groaned and started slowly moving. There were many, many more that would not be stirring again.

He was beginning to seriously question the wisdom of hanging on to this miserable spit of land. It wasn't like there weren't other friendly ports in the world. Just because the rum was good here and the sale of looted goods was easy, the purchase of supplies of sailcloth, gunpowder and cordage was painless and cheap, cabotage rights were simple and the company was normally entertaining.

If thye brain hath suffered a most brutal blowe, it is prone to fayde and die, and revert to its most basic settings. When thye sufferer doth wake, his brain shall claspe unto the firste thing it doth register, and adhere to it like lichen to a tree.-: Extract from The Workings of Thye Mind and Brain, by Doktor Franz Haben.

He woke with a start, water rushing over him. His head was throbbing, half his teeth were gone, his hair had grown into a fine stubble. He sat upright. Another wave crashed into his back. Damn this salty water. He was on a beach, strewn with shells and the odd gasping fish. A crowd had gathered around him: stern faced men, weapons dangling from every buckle, scars lining every bit of visible flesh, wild beards coating their faces.

They questioned him.

“What is your name, man?”

But he did not know.

“Why are lying here, on this beach?”

Again, he did not know.

“We have come a long way, from a place called Middenheim. Have you heard of it?”

“Ah, indeed I have. I myself am a native of that land. I was born there, raised there. She is the jewel of my heart”. He spoke these words in a thick Reikland accent.

Yes, he knew now. He remembered his days as a child, playing in the fields of Middenheim. As a young man, he had caroused around the taverns of that fair city. The huddle of hard looking men seemed relieved, even happy.

An unexpected turn in the weather has brought calm seas and clear skies back to Sartosa, fending off the winter storms and facilitating a prolonged struggle against the terrible horrors of Davy Jones' Crew. White sails have been spotted on the horizon to the south and it seems great fleets are on the move around the coasts of Araby.

A vast sprawling battle of Ogres and Ogre-like-things took place around Monkey Cove this week as the fell forces of Tyrant Ikrim Elfeater besieged the Scurvy Dog stronghold of Fort Senelite. The Sartosans held out, but only just and at great cost – the still control the harbour town by the slimmest of margins.

Adm'rul Kurgan's Ironfangs suffered another, even more brutal, defeat at the hooves of Prince Robinet Puissant and the Troupeau à Ailes Royal on the coast near Skull Sands. To add to the humiliation it seems that the majority of Prince Robinet Puissant's army just stood by and watched the Pirates get beaten by Knights alone.

Buoyed up by their mastery of the battlefield and the natural Bretonnian inclination to take on risky monstrous monsters the Troupeau à Ailes Royal headed into the darkness to battle the unknown in The Cave of the Damned. A swarm of giant Ratmen unsuccessfully attempted an ambush on the Bretonnians. The Skaven were routed from the Caves but the Knights did not hang around to consolidate the incursion.

It still ain't pretty but a glimmer of hope remains. One concerted effort could still turn the tide.

Davy Jones' Crew held The Fortress of the Pirate King, Roba, Sartosa City, the Howling Marsh, Ossomunte, Caragio, The Old Penitentiary, Beffardo, Vermunte, the Volcanic Lake and Dead Man's Point.The Scurvy Dogs held Fort Senelite, The Bay of Wrecks and Skull Point and The Pirate's Current.The Corsairs held Caprio.The Naval Alliance held Ragil and the Osso Hills and captured Skull Sands.The Cave of the Damned is contested by The Naval Alliance and Davy Jones' Crew.

Last edited by WarbossKurgan on Mon 24 Nov 2008 - 2:58; edited 1 time in total